A championship flashback: When the Gator Boyz won an NCAA title
- Franz Beard
- Jan 5
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 5
Part I of a 3-part series
Centuries ago, the great Chinese philosopher Lao Tze observed, “Do the difficult things while they are easy and the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Writing a book. If it were easy everyone would do it. For years I thought about writing a book but always found a reason to put it off. When the final tenth of a second ticked off the clock at the Alamodome in San Antonio the first Monday night in April, a unique opportunity presented itself. The Florida Gators were national champions and for the very first time all season long, they were the No. 1 team in the nation.
The situation called for taking the first step on the next leg of the journey. Time to write a book about this version of the Gator Boyz and their brilliant young coach, Todd Golden.
After the Gators won their first national championship by beating UCLA in Indianapolis back in 2006, Billy Donovan remarked that he wasn’t sure the Gators were the best team in the country, but they were the only team that was still standing after the 6-game grind that is the NCAA Tournament. Quite often, the best team isn’t the one that survives what we call March Madness but that is what makes this one of the more compelling sporting events anywhere in the world.
Four days earlier when Houston, Duke, Auburn and Florida arrived in San Antonio, a very large contingent of the national media believed this to be the Duke Invitational. When the teams were holding their public practice sessions on Friday, a prominent writer who makes covering Duke basketball his life mission, told me in the hallway, “Looks like it will be a Duke-Florida championship game.”
He got the Florida part right. Duke, with all its 5-stars including Cooper Flagg, went belly up in the final minutes of its semifinal showdown with Houston. The Gators, without a single 5-star on its roster, came from behind to beat Auburn to punch their championship game ticket. I was surprised that Duke choked. That’s the only way to describe what happened. I wasn’t surprised the Gators beat Auburn, although there were plenty of hold your breath moments until Todd Golden kept his mentor – Auburn coach Bruce Pearl – from the one jewel missing on a Hall of Fame crown.
Two nights later against Kelvin Sampson-coached Houston, whose no holds barred defense needs only Gordon Solie on play-by-play, the Gators came back from the dead. Down 12 in the second half to Houston is akin to a Ric Flair figure four leglock, but somehow the Gators came up off the mat, took their first lead since the score was 8-6 on a pair of Alijah Martin free throws with 46 seconds to go. A Denzel Aberdeen free throw with 19.7 seconds left gave the Gators a 65-63 lead.
Still enough time for Houston to either tie the game and send it to overtime or drain a three to win it. Two nights earlier against Duke, the Cougars were most comfortable in a similar situation, so it was up to Florida’s defense to come through with yet another stop. In retrospect, this is the aspect of the 2025 Florida national championship team that is overlooked. When people think of the Gators last season, they remember a dynamic offense led by the one of the best backcourts the college game has seen in recent memory – Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin. Need a bucket? Those guys could get you one.
But the defense was every bit as spectacular. Houston’s last four possessions wound up without the Cougars squeezing off a shot. In the last 18 seconds, Milos Uzan was completely handcuffed by Martin. Richard smothered LJ Cryer. Emanuel Sharp ran through a double pick at the top of the key, taking the ball from Cryer some 28 feet from the basket. As he elevated to try a game-winner, Clayton came flying by at an angle to ensure no foul. Had Sharp launched Clayton probably would have blocked it. If he held the ball when he came back down it would be a traveling call.
So Sharp put the ball on the deck where it rolled toward midcourt. Alex Condon sprinted past two Cougars, diving headfirst to beat Ja’Vier Francis to the ball. Game over. Defense saved the day. The only game all season the Gators failed to score 70 points they won by showing what was billed as the nation’s top defensive team how it’s done.
Florida 65, Houston 63.
Confetti would fly. Nets would be cut down. “One Shining Moment” belonged to the Florida Gators for the third time in school history.
Thirty minutes later in the Florida locker room, as Rueben Chinyelu waved a cigar while recalling how his emotions overflowed when the final horn sounded, Micah Handlogten sat quietly across from the mob of reporters crowded in that tight space. Back in February when the injury bug hit the Gators, Micah elected to forego a redshirt season, a contribution that cannot be overlooked.
For two months he played, still not quite 100 percent recovered from a devastating broken leg that could have cost him his life in the SEC Tournament championship game against Auburn in 2024. It was a sacrifice that he was more than willing to make. His teammates were more important than a redshirt season. Without the depth he provided the Gators couldn’t have won the NCAA championship.
As I approached him, his face glowed. The smile said everything. This one said, “Mission accomplished.”
He stood, at 7-1 a full foot taller than I. The grin grew wider, but his voice was soft as he greeted me.
“Was it worth it?” I asked him. “You gave up a lot to come back. Worth it?”
“Absolutely,” he replied, his voice full of pride, yet remarkably humble.
“You know, they couldn’t have won this without you,” I told him. “You were the missing link they needed to win the national championship.”
He knew. I didn’t have to remind him, but the smile widened that someone would recognize his contributions.
The response was typical Micah Handlogten.
“Thanks,” he said. If you know Micah, then anything else would have been overkill.
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